Article feeding mechanism



Nov. 11, 1958 MET-[NIELSEN 2,859,647

ARTICLE FEEDING MECHANISM Original Filed Dec. 11, 1948 E 2 Sheets-Sheet1 IN VEN TOR.

Nov. 11, 1958. I M. H. NIELSEN 2,859,647 r 1 ARTICLE FEEDING MECHANISMOriginal Filed Dec. 11, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J5 J4 J0 INVENTOR.

76) a m orzfzl Jlzfim r 2,859,647 ARTICLE FEnDiNG MECHANISM Moritz H,Nielsen, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Illinois Tool Works; Chicago, Ill;,acorporation of Illinois Continuation ofapplication Serial No. 79,837,March 5, 1949, which is a divisionof application Serial No. 64,844,December 1 1, 1948, now Patent No. 2,642,592, dated June 23,1953. Thisapplication May '12, 1954, l a ggfll g o. i u, 2 Claims. (Cl. 80-8) Thisinvention relates to an article feeding mechanism, and'inoreparticularly to a mechanism'for feeding assemh lcd'screwand washer'unitsto a thread rolling mechfiisiniy Prior thread rolling mechanisms withwhich I am familiar have employed' a reeiprocaun nansrer mechanismto'feed "a'screw or'assembledsc rewand washer unit from the bottom endof afeed chute to a-thread rolling-mechanismor dies; Such transfermechanisms are relatively ir effic ient in operation when consideredfrom'the'stand point of the number'of screws or assembled units actuallydelivered to the thread rolling mechanism in a given period er" time.This inefficiency results from' the fact thatthe transfer mechanism isreciprocatory' in nature and it must therefore make two movements inorder to deliver each screw' or unit, onem'overnent' being a backwardmovement and the other being a forward movement, and'it rnust alsohave-finite periods of rest between successive forward and backwardstrokes. These transfer mechanisms frequently fail to pick up a screwfrom the bottom of the "feed chute and thus frequently complete a cycleof movement without delivering a screw tothe'thre'ad'rollir'igmechanism. 1 ""Infthe casebf the smaller sizes of screws, and thesmaller assembled units," this failure to pick up a screw at" the bottomof the chute'inc re'ases to acha proportion that the thread rollingmachines of which they form a part become completely unsatisfactorvforthefabrication of such smaller screws and assembled units.

' "'It'is accordinglyan object ofthis invention. to provide a mechanismfor feeding"screws,"an'd more particularly Screwand washerassmb'lydinits, from a feed chute or means to a threadrollingmecha'nism' at higher"rates"than heretofore possible andwill'make possible the elimiiia'tion ofprior transfer mechanisms, whilealso making it PQSsible to'utilize thread rolling machines for theautotic high speed production "ofth'e smaller sizes of Vsiand'srna'ller'assmhly units. flu the priorthread rolling machines towhich reference has" been made fhereto fore; the assembledscr'ews"andwashersihave been delivered td' the thread rolling dies and to astarting mechanism associated therewith by a transfe rmechanismor'jblade operating at rightang'les to the l h d pushing' thelea'diiig unitat' thebottom of in "hute fjr'or n the chute into aposition in front of the mechanism; the Blade while so moving-acting assome of the prior art with which I am familiar, the ented at' rightangles to thepath 'oflthe As a restiltf'ltl'ie startirig mechanism topush'isorne or the blai k's' back up" iii'to the fth'ey were not prepenypositioned hy the trails- ;d 'r'e'straiiied against such retrograde ansferimechanismf" atent ice or screw and washer assembly units may bedelivered directly to the. starter mechanism and means by which thestarter mechanism isintilized to control-the'feeding ofthe' units intothe thread rolling mechanism so that: the proc essing 'of a screw orassemblycunit onieach operationv of the thread rollingdies is therebyassured. It is an object of this invention to provide, in a threadrolling machine of:th'e foregoing character, a mechanism serving both asa gate to release screw blanksfrom :a fe'ed'chute and as a 'starter forforcing the blanks in'to rolling engagement with the-dies. =5 Z: 'Afurther-object of this invention is to provide a thread rolling machinewherein a Supply chute converges upon the'path of thread'rolling at anacute angle for control of screw blanks by a combination gateand'starter meehanism. I' 1, -i j Yet another object of this inventionis to provide a thread rolling machine of the-foregoing characterwherein the feed chute at i-ts lower end is defined in part by thefixedthread rolling die, facilitating direct feeding from the chute tothe dies and-leading to a minimum length of stroke of the combinationgate and startermeinher with accompanying high speed of operationand-low vibration. Y k

More specifically it is an object of this invention to provide athreadrolling machine as comprehended -byf the last twoprecedingobjects-wherein the fixed thread rolling die forming a partof-the'feed chute-is relieved orbevelled further to facilitate entry ofthe screw blanks between the thread rolling-dies. U 1 Other objects'andadvantages of the invention will be apparent from-the following description when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawingsiwherein': Fig. 1-is a view in vertical-elevationof athr eadrolling machine embodying the present invention; it Fig.2 is afragmentary view'in section taken along the line2'-2ofFig.1; 1 i

Fig. 3' 'is afragmentary view in section taken along the line 33-ofFig.1; r j; Fig. 4 is' a diagrammatic view in perspective of part of themachine} v l 5 Fig. 5 is'a detailed perspective view of a thread rollingmechanism and the screw andnwasher feeding mechanism; Figs. to 8 arediagrammatic planviews illustrating the operation of the feedingmechanismland the thread rolling mechanism; 7 T V Fig; 9 is a view inelevation and partly in section of a screw and washer assembly producedby the machine of Figs. lto 8.. j l, This application is a continuationof my copending application for Article Feeding, Mechanism, Serial-No.79,837, filed March 5, 1949, now abandoned, silchacopending appli'cationin turn being a division of application entitled Method andtMachi ne forAssembling Washers .With Fasteners, Serial .No: 64,844, filed December11, 1948, issuedlune 23; 1953, a's U. S. Patent No. 2,642,592. i i 2 Asshown in Fig. l, the machine in which the present invention is embodiedmay comprise a screw thread rolling machin-eofstandard typefisuch asshown in Wilcox Patents No. 1534263 of Mayj 11, I926 and-No.1,798,9l9'of March 31, 1931. 1 The standa'rd'type of thread rollingmachine above referred to comprises a {main base or pedestal 2; anauxiliaryhase or body 4 secured to or formed integrally with thebase 2and inclined at an angle of approaimate- 1y 3 degrees-to the horizontal;a hopper 6 for receiving a mass of screw blanks; ascre'w blank feedingmechanism 8 for discharging, hlanks roman hopper 16;. .a feeding chute10; a pair of thieadrolling dies Hand ,14,

Figs. 1, 2, and 5 to 8; a combination gate and a starter mechanism 16and driving mechanism 18.

. As shown in the Wilcox Patents No. 1,584,263 and 1,798,919, the screwblanks are transferred from the bottom end of the feed chute to thethread rolling dies by a laterally reciprocating transfer blade andscrew head engaging clamping finger which carries the screw to aposition in advance of the starter mechanism, which is normallypositioned to expose the transverse slot along which the screw iscarried by the transfer blade, the starter finger then moving forwardlyto push the shank of the screw blank into position between the dies asthe movable die begins its forward movement. 7

In order'to provide a continuous supply of screws to the thread rollingdies and to make it possible for this type of machine to handle smallersizes of screws, and also the smaller sizes of screw and washer assemblyunits, applicant provides a screw feeding mechanism by which the screwsor the assembled screw and washer units are fed by gravity continuouslyfrom the feed chute 10 to the thread rolling dies 12 and 14 and thedrive for the starter mechanism is modified to utilize the starterfinger as a gate controlling the feeding of the screws one by one intothe thread rolling dies.

As shown in Fig. 5, the conventional feed chute 10 includes the spacedchute bars and 22. In place of the transfer mechanism of the assemblymachine, applicant provides screw feeding means or mechanism 24, as bestseen in Figs. 5 to 8, comprising a pair of guide blocks 26 and 28 havingtheir confronting faces 30 and 32 forming a chute in extension of thechute 10, and having their confronting faces 34 and 36 extending atobtuse angles to their confronting faces 30 and 32 so as to form aguideway extending at an obtuse angle to the longitudinal plane of thechute 10 and delivering screws or assembled screw blanks and washers bygravity directly to the thread rolling dies 12 and 14 under control ofthe combination gate and starter mechanism 16. The feed means 24 alsocomprises a cover bar38 secured in the usual manner to the threadrolling machine and extending longitudinally over the chute 10 and theguide way formed by the confronting faces of the chute blocks 26 and 28.The lower end 40 of the cover bar 38 is bent at an obtuse angle so as tooverlie the guideway formed by the confronting 'faces 34 and 36 of thechute blocks.

The thread rolling die 12 is the usual reciprocating die of the threadrolling machine and is carried by the usual slide 42 operativelyconnected by the pitrnan 44, Fig. 1, to the face of a continuouslyrotating gear 46 enclosed within the housing 48.

The die 14 is a modified stationary die of a standard thread rollingmachine and is mounted in the usual manner on the auxiliary base or body4.

More specifically the die 14 is provided with a bevelled or relievedsurface or corner 41 forming a continuation of the adjacent side surfaceor face 36 of the guideway or feed chute continuation or termination 43between the faces 34 and 36. This construction aids in guiding the screwblanks into the space between the dies, and shortens the stroke of thecombination gate and starter mechanism, thus allowing faster operationwhile minimizing vibration.

The starter mechanism 16 includes the usual starting finger 50, thestarter finger being formed at the forward end of a slide bar 52, Figs.4 and 6 to 8, having at its rear end a stud 54 secured to an arm 56 inturn secured to a driving shaft 58. The shaft 58 is oscillated by alever 60 secured to the outer end of the shaft, the lever being swungthrough a rod 62 secured vat its forward end to the lever and its otherend to a lever 64 urged in a clockwise direction by a spring 66 anchoredat one end to the outer end of the lever and the other end to a fixedsupport. The lever 64 is provided intermediately with a cam roller 68,which is held in engagement with an actuating cam 70 on the shaft 72,the shaft 72 being driven by suitable 4 gears on the main drive shaft 74of the standard thread rolling machine.

In the standard thread rolling machine, the cam which drives the lever64 is so formed that its portion of greatest radius extends throughoutsubstantially threequarters of its circumference so that the starterfinger rests in its rearmost position during three quarters of arevolution and during substantially the entire reciprocation of thereciprocatory die 12.

I have found that the transfer mechanism may be eliminated and screwscontinuously supplied in a con stant stream to the thread roller byinserting the guide blocks 26 and 28 between the chute 10 and the threadrolling and starting mechanisms if that standard cam is replaced by acam such that the portion of smaller radius extends throughsubstantially three-quarters of the circumference of the cam. Thestarter finger is thus normally positioned to cover the end of theguideway formed by the confronting faces 34 and 36 of the guide block,as shown in Fig. 7, and moves rearwardly as the die 12 begins itsforward movement so as to uncover the chute and allow the foremost screwin the chute to gravitate into position between the reciprocating andstationary die, all as shown in Fig. 6, and thereupon move forwardly toforce the screw into position between the dies so that it is carriedforwardly and rotated by the engagement of the shank of the screw withthe die faces. The starter finger remains in that forward position whilethe reciprocating die completes its forward movement, as shown in Fig.8, and drops the screw, on which the shank has been rolled, into asuitable receiving pan, not shown. The starter finger thereafter remainsin the forward position until the die 12 has completed its return orbackward movement and begins its next forward movement.

As shown in my parent application, Serial No. 64,844, now Patent No.2,642,592, previously mentioned, the standard thread rolling machine maybe provided with additional and substitute or auxiliary mechanisms forconverting the thread rolling machine into a machine for assemblingscrew blanks and washers and thereafter rolling the thread on the shankof the screw blank beneath the washer to provide a permanently assembledscrew and washer unit 76, as shown in Fig. 9.

It is thus to be understood that by means of this invention both screwsand screw and washer assembly units, even in the smallest sizes, may befed continuous ly in an unbroken stream to the thread rolling dies andthe starting mechanism enabled to perform an additional function,namely, to control, in the manner of an escapement, the successivedelivery of screws, or screw and washer assembly units, to the threadrolling dies.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that I have provided amechanism for feeding screws and screw and washer assembly units from afeed chute or means to the thread rolling mechanism at higher rates thanheretofore possible and which will make possible the elimination ofthose transfer mechanisms, while also making it possible to utilizethread rolling machines for the automatic high speed production of thesmaller sizes of screws and smaller assembly units, and the means bywhich the assembled units may be delivered directly to the startermechanism and means by which the starter mechanism is utilized tocontrol the feeding of the units into the thread rolling mechanism sothat the processing of a screw or assembly unit on each operation of thethread rolling dies is thereby assured.

The use of the combination gate and starter mechanism provides amaterially simpler machine than heretofore known. The use of the fixeddie, particularly with the relieved surface, as a part of the feed chutefacilitates feeding of blanks to the dies, and shortens the stroke ofthe gate and starter member, thereby leading to more rapid operationwith minimum vibration.

The invention is to be understood as including all that which fallswithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a thread-rolling machine stationary and recip rocable die members,screw blank feeding means including a chute having a portion thereofinclined downwardly to the point of screw blank reception between saiddie members adjacent the corner of the stationary die member andproviding a continuous and uninterrupted passage at all times formaintaining the screw blanks in contiguous position under direct gravityfeed directly to the die members, the side of said chute adjacent theside of said stationary die terminating short of the de' livery endthereof and the side of said die extending in accordance with said chuteand forming a continuation of said terminating side of the chute to itsdelivery end, the working surface of said die starting at the end ofsaid chute at said corner of said die, a single combined gate andstarter member reciprocable across the delivery end of said chute andproviding the sole con trol of movement of screw blanks therefrom, andmeans for reciprocating said gate and starter member in timed relationto the relative reciprocation of said die members for releasing thelowermost screw blank from the next contiguous screw blank directly atthe start of the working surface of said stationary die member and forforcing the released screw blank into thread-rolling position betweensaid die members.

2. In a thread-rolling machine, stationary and reciprocable die memberseach having thread forming work ing surfaces, screw blank feeding meansincluding a chute having a portion thereof inclined downwardly to thepoint of screw blank reception between said die members and extending atan angle to the working surfaces of said die members and providing acontinuous and uninterrupted passage at all times for maintaining thescrew blanks in contiguous position under direct gravity feed directlyto the die members, the side of said chute adjacent said stationary dieterminating short of the delivery end thereof and the corner of said dieincluding its thread forming working surface being beveled in accordancewith said angle of said chute and forming a continuation thereof to itsdelivery end, the Working surface of said die starting at the deliveryend of said chute at the beveled end thereof of said die, said diemember at the delivery end of said chute being so relieved to provide acontinuation of the adjacent side surface of the chute for positioning adelivered screw blank substantially at the working surface of the diemember, a single combined gate and starter member reciprocable acrossthe delivery end of said chute and providing the sole control ofmovement of screw blanks therefrom, and means for reciprocating saidgate and starter member in timed relation to the relative reciprocationof said die members for releasing the lowermost screw blank from thenext contiguous screw blank directly at the start of the working surfaceof said station- -ary die member and for forcing the released screwblank into thread rolling position between said die members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS389,170 Rodgers Sept. 4, 1888 1,696,225 Blood Dec. 25, 1928 1,697,372Schwietzke Ian. 1, 1929 1,798,920 Wilcox Mar. 31, 1931 1,820,193 HubbellAug. 25, 1931 2,337,696 Van Nest Dec. 28, 1943 2,348,644 Preziosi May 9,1944

